Factory Game Reflection Part 2

On Friday, we put up all of the presents we made out of the paper circles, and choose the best one. Then we had to mass produce the present, which was a teddy bear. Mr. Coyle was the manager and a student was assigned as assistant. To make as many as we could in 45 minutes, we made a assembly line. There were cutters, the people that cut the shapes out of the paper, the people who glued the shapes together to make a teddy bear and the people that colored the bear. It was quite chaotic and stressful because everyone was trying to be fast, and then people were shouting at others to hurry and pass down the tiles. In the end it did work and we made around 30 teddy bears of a kind.

Factory Game Reflection Part 1

Today in class we got a white sheet of paper with circles , ovals and one bow sketched on it. We were supposed to be a peasant in about the time of industrial revolution who has to make a birthday present for their small sibling out of these shapes, glue (to glue only!), crayons and markers and also scissors to cut. The paper was almost empty, except of the few sketches that were in thin black lines. It didn't make you have many ideas at first, like a paper with wild colors and fascinating shapes. I felt a bit uncreative, so I just started cutting the shapes out to see what i could do with it. I found that I could use one of the circles as a head for a teddy bear and as i cut on, I realized that I could use the humongous circle as the belly. The ovals could be used for ears, arms and legs, the rest just started to fit in in its place as I worked on. As I was working, I wondered what it was like when the children got such small and short time lasting presents. Did they know that what they got wasn't the best? And, were they happy with these presents? I wondered because if I got a paper teddy from my brother I would be quite shocked and not very satisfied. Then, I glued it all together and colored it and made it pretty. This activity got me thinking quite a lot.

Roller Coaster Ride

There was no queue, since the sun was boiling hot and kids in Germany still had school, my brother, me and some other, lonely people were the only ones to have this kind of an experience. As I stepped into the small cart, I felt how I was getting hyper and how the excitement was building up in me. When the cart finally started and slowly increased its speed I finally didn't have the chance to get out anymore and I started to enjoy the whole thing. Then, "Woooosh!" I was racing up and down on steep roller coaster track. "Ahhhh" I screamed as we gracefully glided down one of the steeper tracks, with hair sticking and flying in my face. I felt some sweat on my forehead and I wiped it with a short flick of my hand away. Then I realized that it was just like flying, with the creepy prickling in my stomach and the soft rustling sound of my hair in the coaster wind. I thought the cart I was in was a furious dragon who wanted to fight his enemy as fast as he could. He was rushing toward him. It freaked me out, but I still went again, and again. The fact that you are scared, makes you want to do it over and over again. It it addicting. My head was spinning by now, and i felt sick, I got out, watching my brother go again. It still was an overwhelming fabulous experience!

"Necessity is The Mother of Invention"

I think that “Necessity is The Mother of Invention” means that when you need something very badly or something is too hard and complicated, you invent something to make it easier, faster and less complicated. One example is how Elias Howe invented the sewing machine to save his mother hours of sewing. It means that we are lazy and we invent machines and other objects that make out life easier. Another example is the telephone. Alexander Graham was often sent to deliver messages by horse or even by foot, as you can imagine, he was too lazy to keep on doing that and he invented the phone. Now he could just ring the person and tell them on the phone. A third example is how Orville and Wilbur invented the first airplane. All of these examples show how people are lazy and so invent objects to make life easier.

image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonburnell/393375462/

How Do I Learn Best?

I learn best visually or auditory. By watching videos or acts, I learn well because I can see and hear things about the topic I am studying, and that helps me see and understand the topic. I also like to learn visually because it is fun to watch and it might have some highlights that make it very interesting for me to learn. It might also have something about another topic that I might be studying in science or another class. When something funny or significant happens, I usually remember it, and if it has to do with something we are studying, it helps me learn, so do jokes. I like to listen or be in discussions because I find it very interesting to get to hear everybody's point of view and I find that it helps me understand when many people explain their thoughts in different ways, which might be easy or hard to understand for different people.
To help me learn most effectively in this classroom, we could do at least one discussion on our topic. We could also watch a video on the topic.

Feedback- Quarter 1 Goals

1. What were two highlights from the first week of school?

In the first week of school my two top highlights were definitely seeing my friends again and getting a schedule I like and totally agree with. It was very nice for me to see all my friends again after two months, talking to them and exchanging news. I am very happy with my new schedule which relieved me a lot. These were my two highlights from the first week.

2. What was your first impression of Humanities?

My first impression of humanities was that it was going to be fun, but also hard because we are 8th graders now and we have to get ready for high school. I also thought that we would be challenged and and that we would have to think critically. This is going to be a challenging but fun year.

3. What are two goals you have for this quarter in Humanities?

My two goals for this quarter are to improve my geographic knowledge and my punctuation. I want to improve my geographical knowledge because I forgot some of the rivers, countries, etc., and I want to know them all well. I sometimes don't know where to put a comma or whether i should put a comma or not, and I want that to change. So, those are the two things I will be working on this quarter.

My Gang

My gang consists of these people, Sami, Nikaya, Natasha, Sophia, Emily, Keshav, Adrian and me. Sami is in my gang because we have been great friends for the past two years, and she is always there for me. We do many things together and have had tons of fun days. Nikaya is in my gang because she was my first real friend here when I was new at the school. We also are great friends because we care for each other and we do basically everything together. Natasha is in my gang because she is the most spazzalicious is our gang and she always makes us laugh, even when we are sad. Sophia is in my gang because she is a really kind person who is there for me and who is always optimistic. Emily is in my gang because we have been friends since 6th grade and she is very understanding. Keshav is in my gang because he is weird and he just is everywhere where we are too. Adrian is new, like Keshav, but he is also fun to hang out with, and thats why he is in my gang. These are the other people in my gang and the reasons why I consider them being in my gang. These were my closest friends, but I also have other friends, in Germany and here. Noa, Mia, McKenna, Isabelle, Vivien, Adrian, Shri, Sachi, Nandini, Roberto, Ale, Eero, Casey, Kartik and so on, are also all very nice people who care. Thats my gang!